Hexcel Advances Aerospace Design Innovation with First NCAMP Qualification for Honeycomb Core Material

NCAMP-administered qualification provides design-ready engineering data for HexWeb^® HRH-10^® honeycomb and establishes the first NCAMP database for aerospace honeycomb core materials

STAMFORD, Conn., September 22, 2026 - Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL), a global leader in advanced composites, today announced the successful qualification of its HexWeb^® HRH-10^® aerospace honeycomb through the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), administered by Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR). The qualification establishes the aerospace industry's first NCAMP database for honeycomb core materials, providing engineers with design-ready material data intended to streamline structural design, reduce qualification costs and accelerate the adoption of advanced composite structures.

"As aerospace manufacturers work to bring increasingly advanced aircraft, launch vehicles and other aerospace platforms to market, access to trusted engineering data is becoming as important as access to the materials themselves," said Lyndon Smith, President, Americas & Global Fibers, Hexcel. "This qualification reflects Hexcel's commitment to making advanced composites more accessible and accelerating innovation across the aerospace ecosystem. By helping establish a common foundation for honeycomb core materials, we're enabling engineers to focus more time on designing the next generation of aerospace structures."

The qualification extends the proven NCAMP approach beyond composite prepreg systems and makes publicly available engineering data accessible for one of the industry's most widely used aerospace honeycomb materials. Hexcel's HRH-10 honeycomb was selected as the baseline material for the collaborative industry effort to establish a common qualification framework for honeycomb core materials.

The publicly available NCAMP database provides engineers with trusted material data and a common material specification that can be used to support structural design and development. By leveraging a shared qualification database, organizations can reduce the time, cost and effort associated with generating qualification data independently while gaining greater confidence in material selection and structural analysis. The qualification effort also generated additional engineering data to support the design of lightweight honeycomb structures across a range of aerospace applications.

" NCAMP exists to provide industry a trusted, consistent data foundation that accelerates certification and enables innovation," said John Tomblin, WSU Executive Vice President of Research and Industry and Defense Programs and NIAR Executive Director. " Hexcel's HRH-10 honeycomb qualification expands that foundation into a critical class of materials for which engineers have long needed reliable, publicly available data."

As a vertically integrated supplier of advanced composites, Hexcel provides customers with a broad portfolio of aerospace materials, including carbon fiber, prepregs, honeycomb core and engineered composite structures. The HRH-10 qualification further strengthens the tools and resources available to engineers developing the next generation of lightweight, high-performance aerospace applications.

The HexWeb^® HRH-10^® qualification database will be available through NCAMP resources published by NIAR.

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About Hexcel

Hexcel Corporation is a global leader in advanced lightweight composites technology. We provide innovative, high-performance material solutions that are lighter, stronger, and tougher, shaping a world that moves farther, smarter, and more efficiently. Our broad and unrivaled product range includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, resins, engineered core, and composite structures for use in commercial aerospace, defense and space, and industrial applications.

About NIAR

The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University provides research, testing, certification and training services to support the aviation, defense and advanced manufacturing industries. NIAR's mission is to strengthen university research capabilities; provide applied learning opportunities for students; and support the aviation and manufacturing industries - while driving innovation and prosperity for the community, region and state. Established in 1985, NIAR's yearly R&D expenditures exceed $400 million, with more than 2,000 personnel and 2 million square feet of laboratory and office space in six locations across Wichita, Kan., and one in Huntsville, Ala. www.niar.wichita.edu

Contacts

Matthew Bates | Director, Marketing & Communications | [email protected] | 385-434-4736

Tracee Friess | A.V.P., Strategic Communications & Marketing, WSU-NIAR | [email protected] | 316-978-5597